Three Saudi policeman were killed yesterday when militants armed with heavy machine guns opened fire on them as they checked an illegally parked truck.

The shoot-out in Shubra, a western suburb of the capital Riyadh, also left one suspected militant dead, the Interior Ministry said.

Two security men and one militant were also wounded and several other militants were arrested, the ministry said.

Parts of the neighbourhood were cordoned off by the police late last night and helicopters circled over the area.

The government has been cracking down on Islamic militants since the May 12 suicide bombings in Riyadh that killed 26 people and nine attackers.

On Monday, Saudi police arrested 10 militants who allegedly belonged to a terrorist cell planning an attack on a British target, one Saudi government official said. He gave no more details.

The May bombings in Riyadh sparked unprecedented public discussion of the role of religion in Saudi society, with some daring to argue that the strict form of Islam preached in the kingdom fostered intolerance and extremism.

More than 200 suspected militants have been arrested and more than a dozen killed in a series of high profile police raids since the bombings.